Intelligent Marketing

I'm sure by now we've all seen the Google advertisements that depict the story of two friends that got separated during the Partition and how they finally meet after several years through the popular search engine. The advertisement along with having the obvious emotional appeal, also very effectively conveys the varied uses of Google. From reuniting long lost friends to finding the translation for 'fennel' it has very successfully capitalized on the sentiments of people. That is what embodies intelligent marketing. Apart from accomplishing the goal of reaching a wide range of consumers, it also increases its brand value.

However, such commercials as many might argue, uses the audience's feelings and preys upon it to achieve its purpose, they also make, if not sizable, but noticeable contributions to the society's outlook and perspective.

As an example, let's take go back a few months and we would remember the Idea commercials really well. Why? Because they struck a chord. An intelligent move on their part was positioning these ads at the time of some major festivals. The ones with Eid and Diwali as the theme show and convey the beautiful message of living in harmony and peace to one and all. It would've touched hearts everywhere to see people from different communities excited about celebrating the other's festivals with equal enthusiasm. Then there were the Cadbury commercials where a foreigner whose just come to work in India spends a few awkward moments and feels like an outsider before the ad culminates in traditional Indian style with one of the protagonists giving 'Steve' a jadoo-ki-jhappi on the eve of Diwali! A very recent brand to lead the scene of effective advertising would be Tanishq. In the beginning, we see a demure bride getting ready for her nuptials and there's a little girl prancing around her throughout. It is only as the ad proceeds towards the end that the truth is revealed. A very important message so carefully put across. A brave theme about a woman remarrying handled with subtlety and an attempt that proved to be quite successful too.

While some advertisements handle sensitive topics with the right amount of thoughtfulness required, some are inept at doing so which results in people not getting the message or the point to be made being twisted into something that is just the opposite. An example of this was the recent Dove Canada's "Real Beauty" campaign which aimed at hitting out at all the people involved in projecting unrealistic beauty standards that eventually leads to an inception of body and image issues in women.

http://www.fastcocreate.com/1682534/dove-canada-uses-photoshop-trojan-horse-to-shame-potential-body-shamers

The main target were the unsuspecting graphic designers worldwide who were shamed for their Photoshop skills that distort images and result in severe complexes in women. While a huge faction of people lauded this attempt, there was the obvious backlash from the designer community who cited various reasons that proved their 'innocence'.

"They were making a point. The point was that the self-image that we are bombarded with is one that is unattainable for the majority, and is unhealthy (emotionally & physically). I applaud the marketing, the particular advertisement and Dove as a company for doing so…"

"As a designer, my greatest frustration is that I have so little influence of the final product. And so, when I am made a scapegoat by an ad campaign like this (an ad campaign created by an agency that knows full well who makes the decisions!) I am outraged…"

Hence, we see how a good intention can go awfully wrong sometimes if it was not conveyed or executed properly.

Then there are some advertisements where the point to be made is simply not given any thought at all. There are a string of commercials for men's deodorants that simply fail to make a valid point or maybe that is what they're meant to be - pointless. Many of us may concur when I say that watching them only proves how hollow and fickle can a human mind be. I wonder who conceptualizes these abominations in the name of advertising and who does the final 'okay'. Or are they even 'okay-ed' in the first place?

Because when we speak about the world of advertising making an impact on the minds of people and on the society as a whole, one does wonder what good does these commercials do? 

By dEEV Sana Shaikh